Morgan Stanley Upgrades Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) to “Overweight”

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $650.00 price objective on the medical equipment provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $522.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.93% from the company’s previous close.

ISRG has been the subject of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $604.00 price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $495.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $466.00 to $549.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $536.61.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

Shares of ISRG stock opened at $542.00 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.14, a PEG ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.39. Intuitive Surgical has a one year low of $304.50 and a one year high of $552.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $510.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $469.49.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.32. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 13.41% and a net margin of 28.51%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Intuitive Surgical will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark Brosius sold 2,128 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $515.00, for a total value of $1,095,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 273 shares in the company, valued at $140,595. This trade represents a 88.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jamie Samath sold 108 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $542.06, for a total value of $58,542.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,746,819.42. The trade was a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,459 shares of company stock worth $26,080,251. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.4% in the third quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 3,526 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its position in Intuitive Surgical by 17.4% during the third quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 8,099 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,979,000 after buying an additional 1,198 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Intuitive Surgical by 617.1% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 89,069 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,622,000 after buying an additional 76,649 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,052,800 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $517,209,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Intuitive Surgical during the 3rd quarter worth about $604,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

About Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets products that enable physicians and healthcare providers to enhance the quality of and access to minimally invasive care in the United States and internationally. The company offers the da Vinci Surgical System that enables complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach; and Ion endoluminal system, which extends its commercial offerings beyond surgery into diagnostic procedures enabling minimally invasive biopsies in the lung.